Lighthouses of Denmark: West Coast Lighthouses of Denmark: West Coast Denmark , located at the mouth of the Baltic Sea, includes the north-pointing peninsula of Jylland (Jutland) in the west and a large number of islands to the east. The capital, Copenhagen, is on the island of Sjælland. Other major Danish islands include Fyn (between Sjælland and Jylland), Lolland and Falster (south of Sjælland) and Bornholm (farther east in the Baltic). The Skaggerak is a sound separating Jylland from Norway to the northwest, while the Kattegat separates Jylland from Sweden to the northeast. This page covers lighthouses on the west coast of Jylland and on the Limfjord waterway that crosses the northern part of the peninsula. The southern part of this coast faces the North Sea, and the northern part faces Norway across the Skaggerak. The Danish word for a lighthouse is fyr. The front light of a range is the forfyr and the rear light is the bagfyr. Næs is a cape, odde a narrow promontory or isthmus, ø is an island, and havn is a harbor.

In October 2011, the government placed maintenance of Danish aids to navigation under the Danish Maritime Authority (Søfartsstyrelsen). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights . DFL numbers are from the Dansk Fyrliste. Admiralty numbers are from volume B of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 114. General Sources Official Danish light list (in .pdf format); the list also includes lights of Greenland and Faroes. Hanstholm Light, Thisted, October 2005 photo copyright Malte Werning; used by permission Bovbjerg Light, Lemvig, June 2008 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Johan Wieland Syddanmark (Southern Denmark) Region Lighthouses Note: Additional lighthouses of the Syddanmark region are listed on the Southeast Jylland and Fyn and Langeland pages. Esbjerg Lighthouses * Esbjerg Trafikhavn Sydmole (South Mole) (2) 2014 (station established 1889).

Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); continuous green light. 5 m (17 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and enclosed upper portion, painted green. Köhler has a photo . The original lighthouse, a 5 m (17 ft) round cast iron tower with a domed lantern, was removed and scrapped in 2014. That tower was green in the Anke/Jens photo (July 2005) and in Huelse's photo , although it was white in Trabas's photo . Google has a 2010 street view across the harbor and a satellite view . The Trafikhavn (Commercial Harbor) is one of several small basins in the harbor facilities at Esbjerg. Located at the end of the Trafikhavn South Mole; apparently accessible by walking the mole. Site open, tower closed. DFL-0075; Admiralty B1796; NGA 10792. * Esbjerg Trafikhavn Nordmole (North Mole) (1) 2014 (station established 1889).

Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); continuous red light. 5 m (17 ft) square skeletal tower with lantern and enclosed upper portion, painted red. Köhler has a photo . The original lighthouse, a 5 m (17 ft) round cast iron tower with a domed lantern, was removed and scrapped in 2014. Trabas has an excellent closeup photo by Klaus Kern (note the south mole light in the background, painted green), Huelse also has a photo , and Google has a 2010 street view across the harbor and a satellite view . Huelse has a postcard view of a former mole lighthouse. Site open, tower closed. Located at the end of the Trafikhavn North Mole; apparently accessible by walking the mole. DFL-0074; Admiralty B1794; NGA 10788. * Esbjerg 1923. Active; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off, 6 s on, 2 s off.

5 m (17 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window. Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band. Huelse also has a good photo , Lemvigh has a page for the light, Köhler has a photo , and Google has a satellite view . This tiny directional lighthouse guides ships approaching Esbjerg through the narrow channel between the mainland and the island of Fanø. Located at the end of the broad mole separating the Trafikhavn and the Fiskerihavn. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-202; DFL-0060; Admiralty B1792; NGA 10784. **** Motorfyrskib 1 Horns Rev 1913. Inactive as a lightship since 1980; decommissioned 1988. 33.6 m (110 ft) wood lightship; the light was displayed from a round lantern on a mast amidships. Hull painted red with a white horizontal band and a vertical white stripe (the pattern of the Danish flag).

Frits van Eck has a fine 2010 photo , Huelse also has a photo , and Google has a closeup street view and a satellite view . Built at Faaborg, the ship spent its entire career on the Vyl and Horns Rev stations west of Esbjerg in the North Sea. In 1989 the Defense Ministry donated the ship to a foundation formed in Esbjerg for its preservation. After some refurbishment, the ship opened as a museum vessel in 1989. This is one of the best preserved lightships in Denmark, or anywhere. Moored at Pier 1 in the Fiskerihavn in Esbjerg. Site open, ship open for tours Monday through Friday, May through September. ARLHS DEN-233. * Strandby 1893. Active; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, occulting once every 5 s. 5 m (17 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window. Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band.

Werning's photo is at right, Trabas has a closeup , Huelse also has a good photo , and Google has a street view and a satellite view . This light guides ships approaching Esbjerg from the North Sea. Located on the Doggerkaj, a broad mole at the northwestern corner of Esbjerg harbor. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-203; DFL-0048; Admiralty B1782; NGA 10760. Sæddingstrand Syd Bagfyr (South Range Rear) (2) 1947 (station established 1873). Active; focal plane 25 m (82 ft); continuous green light. 17 m (56 ft) triangular skeletal tower with a square enclosed lantern room, mounted atop a robust square concrete tower. Lantern painted gray. Trabas has a distant photo , and Bing has a satellite view . The tower is left over from World War II, although we aren't sure of its original function. The front light is on a short skeletal tower.

Located in the Strandskoven, a wooded park about 1 km (0.6 mi) northeast of the harbor area in Esbjerg. Site status unknown. ARLHS DEN-118; DFL-0034a; Admiralty B1778.1; NGA 10748. Strandby Light, Esbjerg, October 2005 photo copyright Malte Werning; used by permission * Sæddingstrand Forfyr (Range Front) (2?) Date unknown (station established 1873). Inactive since 2006. 7 m (23 ft) 1-1/2 story wood keeper's house, painted red with white trim. The light was shown through a plate glass window on the lower story. This is the main entrance range for Esbjerg. In 2006 the active light (focal plane 13 m (43 ft); white light, 1 s on, 1 s off) was moved to a 5 m (17 ft) round metal tower with lantern.

The original lens is on display at the Fiskeri- og Søfartsmuseet , Esbjerg's maritime museum. The house is clearly used as a residence. Trabas has Lemvigh's photo of the new light, Huelse has a photo of the house from a different angle, Köhler also has a photo , and Google has a street view from the rear of the building. The new light, not seen in Google's satellite view , was activated in November 2006. Located on the Fyrvej, just off the Sædding Strandvej (beach road) in Sædding, a beach town just northwest of Esbjerg. Site and tower closed, but the house can be viewed from the street. ARLHS DEN-114; DFL-0032c; Admiralty B1772; NGA 10720. * Sæddingstrand Mellumfyr (Range Middle) 1873. Active; focal plane 27 m (89 ft); white light, 2 s on, 2 s off.

14 m (46 ft) octagonal cast iron tower with lantern and gallery. Tower painted with red and white horizontal bands; lantern painted red. Trabas has a photo , Huelse also has a good photo and a historic postcard view , Köhler has a photo , and Google has a street view and a satellite view . This was the rear light of the range until 1953. Located in a parking lot on the eastern leg of the Fyrparken, off the Tarphagevej in Sædding. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-115; DFL-0032b; Admiralty B1772.1; NGA 10724. * Sæddingstrand Bagfyr (Range Rear) 1953. Active; focal plane 37 m (121 ft); continuous white light. 22 m (72 ft) triangular skeletal tower with a round gallery. Tower painted red. Trabas has a photo , Köhler has a photo , Google has a street view , and Bing has a satellite view .

Located on the Nordre Fovrfeldvej at the Sprogøvej in Sædding. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-116; DFL-0032a; Admiralty B1772.2; NGA 10728. * Sæddingstrand Nord Bagfyr (North Range Rear) 1947. Active; focal plane 28 m (92 ft); continuous red light. 11 m (36 ft) triangular cylindrical concrete tower with lantern and gallery. There are vertical panels of wood on each face, so the lighthouse appears with brown and white vertical stripes. Trabas has a photo , Köhler has a photo , Google has a street view , and Bing has a satellite view . The front light is on a skeletal tower. This very modern tower, designed by the architect Frank Holmelin, is located on the western leg of the Fyrparken, off the Sædding Ringvej (ring road) in Sædding. Site open, tower closed.

ARLHS DEN-113; DFL-0036a; Admiralty B1779.1; NGA 10756. Varde Lighthouse **** Blåvandshuk (Blåvand) (2) 1900 (station established 1888). Active; focal plane 55 m (180 ft); three white flashes every 20 s. 39 m (128 ft) square concrete tower with lantern and gallery; original 2nd order Fresnel lens. Lighthouse painted white with gray trim; lantern painted red. Matthias Barth's photo is at right, Trabas has Arno Siering's closeup , Lemvigh's page has photos, Ingo Bos has a nice photo of a rainbow behind the lighthouse, Wikimedia has photos , Marinas.com has aerial photos , Huelse has a historic postcard photo , and Google has a street view and a satellite view . The cape of Blåvandshuk is the westernmost point of Denmark.

Located at the point of the cape, at the end of the Fyrvej (Lighthouse Road) in Blåvand-Oksby. Site open; tower open daily February through November and during the Christmas holidays; otherwise Thursday through Sunday in December and January; it may be closed in bad weather. ARLHS DEN-002; DFL-0150; Admiralty B1848; NGA 10716. Blåvandshuk Light, Varde, December 2003 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Matthias Barth Midtjylland (Central Jylland) Region Lighthouses Note: Additional lighthouses of the Midtjylland region are listed on the Northeast Jylland page. Most of these Midtjylland lighthouses are on the south side of the Limfjord waterway. The Limfjord is not a fjord in the Norwegian sense. It is a network of broad sounds and narrow channels that extends all the way across the northern end of Jylland (Jutland), connecting the North Sea at Thyborøn to the Kattegat at Hals.

Until it was pierced by a storm in 1825, a narrow isthmus called the Agger Tange connected the northern part of Jylland to the rest of the peninsula. The present Thyborøn Channel through the Agger Tange was opened by another storm in 1862. From Thyborøn, the waterway extends southeast to a narrow strait at Oddesund, then northeast to another strait at Sallingsund, then east through the city of Ålborg to the Kattegat. (Lighthouses on the Kattegat at the eastern end of the waterway are listed on the Northeast Jylland page.) Ringkøbing-Skjern Lighthouse **** Lyngvig (Nørre Lynvig, Holmlands Klit) 1906. Active; focal plane 53 m (174 ft); white flash every 5 s. 38 m (125 ft) round concrete tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white; lantern painted red.

Rüdiger Wölk's photo is at right, Wikimedia has additional photos , Trabas has Arno Siering's excellent photo , Huelse has both a good photo and a historic postcard view , Lemvigh has a page for the lighthouse, and Google has a street view and a satellite view . All photos show how the lighthouse stands atop a 17 m (56 ft) dune. The lighthouse is built on a barrier spit that encloses the Ringkjøping Fjord, which is a large, shallow sound connected to the sea by a narrow inlet. Located at the end of the Holmsland Klitvej in Nørre Lyngvig. Site open; tower open daily year round except for the Christmas and New Year holidays. ARLHS DEN-024; DFL-0215; Admiralty B1868; NGA 10872. Lemvig Lighthouses **** Bovbjerg 1877. Active; focal plane 62 m (203 ft); two long (2.5 s) white flashes every 15 s.

26 m (85 ft) round brick tower with stone trim, lantern and gallery, attached to a pair of 1-1/2 story brick keeper's houses; one of the houses is renovated as a café. The original 1st order Fresnel lens remains in use. The lighthouse is unpainted red brick with gray stone trim; lantern painted dark red to match the brick. Johan Wieland's photo is at the top of this page, Lemvigh has a page for the lighthouse, Anke and Jens have a page with photos, Derek Meier has an excellent September 2006 photo , Trabas also has a great photo by Arno Siering, Wikimedia has photos , Marinas.com has aerial photos , Huelse has a postcard view postmarked 1907, and Google has a satellite view . Not the tallest Danish lighthouse, but this is one of the country's most handsome and most popular. Located on the Fyrvej south of Ferring. Site open; tower open in the afternoon daily in July and August and daily except Mondays February through June and September through December. Site manager; Bovbjerg Fyr .

ARLHS DEN-003; DFL-0250; ; Admiralty B1886; NGA 10908. * Thyborøn Anduvning (Thyborøn Approach) Date unknown. Active; focal plane 24 m (79 ft); three white flashes every 10 s. 17 m (56 ft) square skeletal mast with lantern and gallery. The lantern is red. Trabas has a photo , and Google has a satellite view . Located on a dune on the south side of the entrance to the Limfjord. Site open, tower closed. DFL-0260; Admiralty B1890; NGA 10912. Lyngvig Light, Ringkjøping-Skjern, August 2005 Wikimedia Creative Commons photo by Rüdiger Wölk * Thyborøn Tange 1911. Active; focal plane 6 m (20 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, occulting twice every 12 s.

6 m (20 ft) round cast iron lantern with a square wood gallery, mounted on four wood piles. Lantern and gallery painted white with a red horizontal band, piles brown. Huelse has a fine photo , Trabas also has a good photo , and Google has a satellite view and a distant street view . This was formerly the front light of a range; the rear light was deactivated in 1988 and has since been relocated to Kongsdal Havn, near Mariager (see the Northeast Jylland page). Located at an elbow bend on the Havregade (breakwater) sheltering the harbor of Thyborøn, on the south side of the inlet leading to the Limfjord. Accessible by walking the breakwater. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-189; DFL-0408; Admiralty B1900; NGA 10932. Struer Lighthouses * Toftum 1904. Active; white, red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 4 m (13 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window.

Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band. Huelse has a photo , Trabas also has a photo , and Google has a satellite view . Standing at the eastern end of the west basin of the Limfjord, this directional light guides ships down the length of the basin. Located on a golf course near the town of Toftum Bjerge, about 2 km (1.2 mi) southwest of the Oddesund bridge. Site open, tower closed. Site manager: Struer-Golfklub . ARLHS DEN-076; DFL-0455; Admiralty B1946. * Oddesundbroen 1904. Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, 1 s on, 1 s off. Light mounted atop the drawbridge control building of the Oddesund Bridge (highway 11). Trabas has a closeup photo , and Google has a street view and a satellite view . Located near the north end of the bridge. Site open, tower closed. DFL-0460; Admiralty B1948.

* Grisetåodde 1909. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, occulting once every 5 s. 8 m (26 ft) round cast iron tower with lantern and gallery, painted with red and white horizontal bands. Werning has a page with a good photo, Lemvigh also has a page for the lighthouse, Charles Joynt has a 2009 photo , Trabas has Arno Siering's excellent photo (seen at right) Marinas.com has aerial photos , and Google has a satellite view as well as a distant street view taken from the nearby Oddesund Bridge. Anke and Jens found the light freshly repainted in June 2005. Located on a spit of land marking the east entrance to the Oddesund strait in Oddesund Syd. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-075; DFL-0470; Admiralty B1954. Skive Lighthouses * Langerodde 1911.

Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 4 m (13 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window. Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band. Trabas has a closeup photo , and Google has a satellite view . This is a directional light guiding ships northeastward from Oddesund to Sallingsund. Located on the south side of the fjord roughly 4 km (2.5 mi) southwest of Sallingsund, near Vile. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-078; DFL-0510; Admiralty B1976. Grisetåodde Light, Struer * Glyngøre 1911. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, occulting once every 5 s. 10 m (33 ft) round cast iron tower with lantern and gallery, painted with red and white horizontal bands.

Lemvigh has a page for the lighthouse, Trabas has a good photo , and Google has a satellite view . This lighthouse is a twin of the Grisetåodde light. Located at a marina on the tip of a promontory on the east side of the fjord north of Sallingssund. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-077; DFL-0515; Admiralty B1980. * Vodstrup 1911. Active; focal plane 16 m (52 ft); red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 4 m (13 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window. Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band. Trabas has a closeup photo , another closeup is available, and Google has a satellite view . This directional light guides westbound ships toward Sallingsund. Located at the end of the Fyrvej in Morsø, on the eastern side of the island of Mors. Site open, tower closed.

ARLHS DEN-066; DFL-0542; Admiralty B2006. * Fur (2) 2007 (station established 1911). Active; focal plane 13 m (43 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, occulting once every 5 s. 6 m (20 ft) triangular metal tower. Trabas has a photo of the new light, and Google has a satellite view . The first lighthouse was a 4 m (13 ft) wood building; the light was shown through a square window. Huelse has a good 2007 photo , and Frank Baumann has a 2005 photo . The old lighthouse was removed because it was endangered by beach erosion. Located on the northwestern side of Fur, an island in the Limfjord on the south side of the waterway. The island is accessible by ferry from the mainland near Selde. Site open. ARLHS DEN-073; DFL-0548; Admiralty B2010.

Nordjylland (North Jylland) Region Lighthouses Vesthimmerland Lighthouse * Løgstør Grunde (Forfyr) 1908. Active; focal plane 9 m (30 ft); red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 9 m (30 ft) rectangular building with two square lantern houses, one at each end. Building painted white. Kai Sender's photo is at right, Lemvigh has a page with photos, Trabas has a photo by Klaus Kern, Huelse has a historic postcard view , and Google has an indistinct satellite view and a photo sphere by Tom Friese. In this very unusual lighthouse, the lantern at the north end carries the red light, and the one at the south end carries the green. The rear light is on a skeletal tower. The range guides eastbound ships approaching the narrow Aggersund channel of the Limfjord leading to Ålborg. Located on the south side of the fjord on the Havnevej in Løgstør. Site open, tower closed.

ARLHS DEN-079; DFL-0630b; Admiralty B2050. Morsø Lighthouses * Sillerslev Forfyr (Range Front) 1911. Active; focal plane 10 m (33 ft); white light, 1 s on, 1 s off. 3 m (10 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a square window. Lighthouse painted white with one red horizontal band. Lemvigh has a page with a photo, Trabas has a closeup photo , and Google has a satellite view . This range guides ships heading northeast from the Oddesund area. Located on the waterfront of Sønderby, about 1.2 km (3/4 mi) southwest of Sillerslev on the south side of the island of Mors. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-064; DFL-0500b; Admiralty B1970. * Sillerslev Bagfyr (Range Rear) 1911.

Active; focal plane 28 m (92 ft); white light, 2 s on, 2 s off. 13 m (43 ft) square pyramidal wood tower with lantern room and gallery; the light is shown through a square window in the lantern room. Trabas has a closeup photo , Lemvigh has a page with a photo, a 2012 closeup is available, and Google has a satellite view . Located on the Gammel Færgevej on the east side of Sillerslev. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-065; DFL-0500a; Admiralty B1970.1. Løgstør Grunde Forfyr, Vesthimmerland, October 2006 Flickr Creative Commons photo by Kai Sender Thisted Lighthouses * Agger-Tange Forfyr (Range Front) 1988. Active; focal plane 8 m (26 ft); white, red or green light, depending on direction, 2 s on, 2 s off. 5 m (16 ft) round cast iron lantern, painted red.

Huelse has a closeup , Trabas has a closeup photo by Klaus Potschien, and Google has a satellite view . The range guides ships entering the Thyborøn Kanal, the inlet leading to the Limfjord. The rear light is 800 m (1/2 mi) east on a skeletal mast. Located just behind the beach on the north side of the inlet. Apparently accessible by a hike of about 1.2 km (3/4 mile) across the sand from the Tangevej. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-190; DFL-0401b; Admiralty B1894; NGA 10916. **** Lodbjerg 1884. Active; focal plane 48 m (157 ft); two white flashes every 20 s. 35 m (115 ft) round granite tower with lantern and gallery. The lighthouse is unpainted stone; lantern dome is weathered gray metallic. Two 1-1/2 story keeper's houses and other light station buildings; there is a resident caretaker.

Trabas has a great photo , Lemvigh has a page with photos, the Nature Agency has a page for the lighthouse, Huelse also has a good closeup plus a historic postcard view , Anke/Jens have a view from the gallery, Marinas.com has aerial photos , and Google has a satellite view . The lighthouse is located about 1 km (0.6 mi) from the beach in a maritime forest preserve, the Lodbjerg Klitplantage. In 1999 the deteriorated lantern dome was replaced by an authentic replica. Located on the Lodbjergvej about 8 km (5 mi) by road north of Agger. Site open, tower open daily year round. Site manager: Naturstyrelsen (Nature Agency). ARLHS DEN-022; DFL-0264; Admiralty B2070; NGA 10944. * Vorupør Forfyr 1894. Active; focal plane 20 m (66 ft); red light, 2 s on, 2 s off.

4 m (13 ft) wood building; the light is shown through a small rectangular window. Lighthouse painted with red and white horizontal bands. Huelse has a closeup , Köhler has a 2015 photo , and Trabas also has a photo . Located on the dunes at Nørre Vorupør. Site open, tower closed. ARLHS DEN-063; ; DFL-0269b; Admiralty B2072; NGA 10948. ** Rudbjerg (Rubjerg) Knude 1900. Inactive since 1968. 23 m (85 ft) square cylindical masonry tower with lantern and gallery. Lighthouse painted white, lantern red. Several 1-1/2 story keeper's houses, now in ruins. Werning has a page for the lighthouse, Lemvigh also has a page with photos, Wikimedia has numerous photos , Google has a satellite view and a distant street view , and Huelse has a historic postcard view of the lighthouse in operation. This lighthouse was abandoned when high sand dunes began encroaching on the station.

The dunes have now migrated through the station and the buildings are emerging onto the beach. Clearly the lighthouse and all the other structures are endangered by continuing erosion and the rise in sea level. A September 2007 photo and Karsten Köhler's June 2008 photo show the lighthouse still in dunes but looming over the beach. The site is now managed by the Vendsyssel Historiske Museum, which maintains a small museum with exhibits on the lighthouse and the natural history of the area. Located on the beach about halfway between Nørre Rudbjerg and Lønstrup. Accessible by a road from the Rudbjergvej. Site open, tower reported open but no schdedule is available. Site manager: Vendsyssel Historiske Museum . ARLHS DEN-036. Norway Wants to Be Europe’s Battery - IEEE Spectrum IEEE Spectrum Norway Wants to Be Europe’s Battery A new HVDC line will let Europe store more wind energy in Norway’s hydropower system 21 Oct 2014 | 19:00 GMT Advertisement Photo: Statnett The Viking Connection: A new high-voltage DC cable will connect Denmark to Norway.

Norway’s hydropower reservoirs make up nearly half of Europe’s energy storage capacity. European grid operators need energy storage to cope with an ever-mounting, always-shifting torrent of wind power. See the connection? So does Norway. In December, engineers will energize a new subsea power cable that will begin to bridge the gap between need and opportunity, greatly expanding European power systems’ access to Norway’s hydropower-rich power grid. The 240-kilometer cable across the Skagerrak Strait separating southern Norway and northern Denmark is Norway’s first new power link to Denmark since 1993. Called Skagerrak 4, its high-voltage direct current (HVDC) converters—the electronic units at either end of the line that transform AC into high-voltage DC and vice versa—are also the building blocks for more ambitious cables from Norway to wind-power heavyweights Germany and the United Kingdom. Construction on those is expected to commence during the coming year. The existing Skagerrak interconnection, three HVDC cables with a combined 1,000 megawatts of capacity, is already showing the world just how well wind and hydropower complement each other.

According to the Danish Energy Agency, such interconnectors are why Denmark can accommodate the world’s highest levels of wind power, which met 41.2 percent of Danish demand in the first half of this year. At times wind power production even exceeds the country’s domestic power demand. “We store their surplus in the hydro reservoirs and then feed it back on a seasonal basis or a daily basis. This is a very strong business case,” says Håkon Borgen, executive vice president at Statnett, Norway’s state grid operator. Norwegian hydropower turbines throttle down as Norway consumes Danish wind energy instead, leaving an equivalent amount of energy parked behind dams. And when the weather shifts and becalms the North Sea winds, the reservoirs and Skagerrak’s cables feed that stored energy back to Denmark. Photo: ABB Smooth Operators: Reactors on the Denmark side of a new HVDC link even out the flow of power stored in Norway. The country plans similar links to the United Kingdom and Germany. Borgen says the addition of the 700-MW Skagerrak 4 advances plans to plug the U.K.

and Germany into Norway’s batteries by pushing the most flexible form of HVDC technology—voltage source converters (VSCs)—to its highest voltage yet. VSCs’ ability to stabilize the voltage of the AC grids on both sides of a cable makes the technology better suited than any existing alternative for handling intermittent flows of renewable energy, he says. Skagerrak 4’s VSCs operate at 500 kilovolts each—30 percent higher than the previous record holder. Borgen says that voltage boost will be needed to reduce losses on longer runs such as the 720-km cables to the U.K., which will be the world’s longest subsea power cables. ABB, of Zurich, which built Skagerrak 4’s VSCs, says the tougher technology challenge was ensuring that the VSCs function well alongside the older HVDC lines. That’s because current that Skagerrak 4 carries south across the strait must cycle back to Norway via the Skagerrak 3 cable, which uses the older, classic HVDC converters. This will be the world’s first paired operation of cables using VSCs and classic HVDC converters.

Such a pairing gets interesting when operators want to reverse the flow of power—something that can happen up to 1,000 times per year at Skagerrak as winds and markets shift. VSCs normally reverse power flow by reversing a line’s current, whereas classic HVDC converters must flip the line’s voltage polarity. So how to reverse power flow on both lines? ABB’s solution is a 5- to 10-second process that uses coordinated actions by both converter types and eight high-speed switches that reconfigure the wiring of the VSCs, flipping their polarity so that the flow of power in Skagerrak 4 can change direction while its current keeps flowing south. The process interrupts the circuit by which current flows from one cable to the other. But Lars-Erik Juhlin, an HVDC expert at ABB, says there is no meaningful loss or surge in power to the AC grids. The key, explains Juhlin, is the excellent electrical conductivity of seawater. When the power-reversal scheme interrupts the circuit, the converters use subsea electrodes at either shore to feed the return currents across the strait through the water.

Sending current through seawater can corrode subsea infrastructure such as natural gas pipelines, but here, the dose makes the poison. “They can accept even 2,000 amps for up to 2 hours. So for a short pulse, it’s no problem,” says Juhlin. Statnett’s follow-on interconnection projects could move quickly because they will just be longer versions of Skagerrak 4. The first, a pair of 500-kV VSC cables between Norway and Germany, cleared final regulatory approvals last week. Statnett and its European grid partner, Dutch-German firm Tennet, foresee charging up the 1,400-MW NordLink in 2018. The pair of Norway–U.K. cables, a joint effort of Statnett and London-based National Grid, is slated to start by 2020. There should be many more cables to come if European countries make good on official goals to eliminate carbon emissions from power generation by 2050.

The German government’s Advisory Council on the Environment, for example, concluded in its influential 2011 report that an optimal zero-carbon power system for Germany would need more than 40 gigawatts of interconnection to Norway. That system, the council projected, would deliver power at a very affordable 6 to 7 euro cents per kilowatt-hour. Without Norwegian storage, power costs would rise to 9 to 12 euro cents per kilowatt-hour. Ånund Killingtveit, a professor of hydraulic and environmental engineering at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, says Norwegian hydropower is up to at least part of the task. Killingtveit led a five-year, US $5.7 million research program on hydropower balancing, which showed that existing hydropower reservoirs could “fairly easily” move about 25 GW of energy in and out of storage without damaging the environment—five times as much as they currently manage. The key, he says, is installing pumps to shift water from one reservoir to a higher one nearby, thus actively storing power rather than just deferring production.

If there is a limit to Norway’s energy storage potential, it may ultimately be the country’s own grid. Statnett has begun a 10-year, $8 billion to $10 billion grid upgrade, but it factors in only 3.5 GW of additional power from the three cable projects. The question may be how many power lines the Norwegians will accept to smooth Europe’s departure from fossil fuel power. Advertisement Map Norway - Travel Europe ◄Norway Norway is a long and mostly narrow country in northern Europe, one of the world’s northernmost countries. It occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway’s extensive coastline is washed on three sides by seas. To the north is the Barents Sea; to the west is the Norwegian Sea; and to the south are the Skagerrak, a strait separating Norway from Denmark, and the North Sea. Norway has several overseas possessions. In the Arctic Ocean are the Svalbard archipelago and Jan Mayen, a volcanic island northeast of Iceland. Norway’s possessions also include Bouvet Island, an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean, and Peter I Island, off Antarctica.

The beauty of the country inspired musical works by Norway’s most famous composer, Edvard Grieg, who attempted to capture the changing mood created by the alternately light and dark seasons.

Question: What is the name of the strait separating Norway and Denmark?
Answer: SKAGERRAK